The head of the U.S. Northern Command has a reminder for his troops supporting the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago: no alcohol, no prostitutes.

It comes as the U.S. Southern Command finalizes its probe into the conduct of 12 troops assigned to security for a recent presidential trip to Colombia. Investigations continue into an alleged prostitution scandal involving military and Secret Service agents who were in the South American nation in advance of a trip last month by President Barack Obama.

The U.S. military is about to offer its logistical support to the NATO summit that will be attended by Obama and other heads of state later this month in Chicago. U.S. troops are expected to assist with communications, security, transportation and other functions throughout the high-profile event.

"Military commanders routinely apply lessons learned from previous experiences. In this case, the recent events in Colombia highlighted to the leadership at USNORTHCOM the importance of ensuring that there is absolutely no confusion on what is expected from the military and DOD (Department of Defense) civilians supporting these important national security events," explained U.S. Northern Command spokesman John Cornelio.

Jacoby, who oversees all troops in the continental United States, wrote "it is incumbent on all of you to perform your duties to the best of your ability and to represent your country and service in the best possible manner."

Jacoby reminded the troops they may not "solicit prostitutes or engage in conduct which is unprofessional or unbecoming as a member of the armed forces." That includes a ban on drinking any alcohol, except for approved summit social events. They also may not wear any ripped or torn civilian garments, or any clothing displaying profanity or slurs.

"Commanders at all levels are charged with the responsibility to ensure the members assigned to them during operations and other significant events, like the NATO summit, maintain good order and discipline," Cornelio told Security Clearance. "We have learned lessons from the past and are applying them. Our commander wanted to make it perfectly clear to all military and civilian personnel supporting the Chicago summit what was expected of them."

Here are the memos:

MEMORANDUM FOR SEE DISTRIBUTION

FROM: Commander, USNORTHCOM Commander, JTF-Summit

The NATO summit is a significant event in the development and sustainment of our national security policy. NATO is the United States’ longest standing and most trusted alliance. It is an honor to host this event in the United States in the great City of Chicago. In addition to the critical security issues that will be discussed, the reputation and hospitality of our country and our armed forces will be on display for the world. As critical players in hosting a successful conference, every member of JTF-Summit has a role to play. It is incumbent on all of you to perform your duties to the best of your ability and to represent your country and service in the best possible manner. In a very real sense, the eyes of the country and world will be on you. I am confident you will keep faith with your fellow service members and not let the team or the country down.

Attachments:
1. General Order #1, Title 10 and GS Personnel
2. General Order #1, Title 32 Personnel

6 May 2012

MEMORANDUM FOR SEE DISTRIBUTION

SUBJECT: General Order # 1 – Standards of Conduct for Department of Defense (DOD) Personnel Assigned, Attached, or OPCON/TACON to JTF-Summit

1. PURPOSE: To identify conduct that is prejudicial to the maintenance of good order and discipline of all JTF-Summit personnel during support operations to the 2012 NATO Summit.

2. COMMANDER’S INTENT: Accountability, discipline and standards for DOD personnel operating in support of our partners are paramount to the success of our mission. As such, all Commanders shall ensure the existence of clear mechanisms for accountability and all DOD personnel shall have a well-defined chain of command, have adequate supervision, be accountable to each other and conduct themselves in an honorable manner. Commanders must ensure that we carry out our missions in a manner that honors our services when we deploy in support of partners and the citizens of the United States.

4. APPLICABILITY AND PUNITIVE PROVISIONS: This General Order is applicable at all times to all Title 10 and DOD civilian personnel assigned, attached, or OPCON/TACON to JTF-Summit when deployed in the Joint Operational Area (JOA) in support of the 2012 NATO Summit. The specific prohibitions contained in paragraph 7b of this General Order can be prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and under applicable DOD and Service civilian personnel regulations.

5. STATEMENTS OF MILITARY PURPOSE AND NECESSITY: When personnel are deployed in support of JTF-Summit, each person’s conduct must be professional at all times in order to enhance the public’s trust and confidence and to gain the full cooperation of local, State, and other Federal agencies. The restrictions described below are necessary to achieve these stated purposes.

6. UNIT COMMANDER’S RESPONSIBILITY: Commanders are charged with ensuring all DOD personnel are briefed on the restrictions contained in this order. Commanders will ensure members of JTF-Summit are accounted for at all times and receive adequate guidance and supervision for the performance of their duties and for their personal behavior both on and off duty. Commanders may further restrict their personnel, as they deem necessary, consistent with law and regulations.

7. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT: In line with my vision, all JTF-Summit personnel shall conform to the high standards of conduct expected by USNORTHCOM and the citizens of the United States.

a. Members Will:
• Know, respect, and obey their chain of command. It is every member’s job to do so in a professional manner.
• Conduct themselves at all times in a manner that brings credit on their respective service and country. You are goodwill ambassadors of the United States to all participating nations of the NATO Summit.
• Treat all members of JTF-Summit, including federal, state and local partners, and conference participants, with dignity, respect and courtesy.
• Honor and support our brothers and sisters who remain engaged in combat today through the performance of their duties in the homeland.

b. Members Will Not:
• Consume any alcohol. The first O-6 commander in the chain of command may approve an exception to this provision for a special social event.
• Wear clothing other than the proper uniform or appropriate civilian attire while on duty.
• Wear any of the following, when off-duty or in a public place:
• Ripped or torn garments;
• Garments displaying profanity, nudity, illegal drug-related pictures or words; or
• Garments displaying racial, sexual, or ethnic slogans or words.
• Use Government or rental vehicles for other than official purposes. This means use for a purpose other than travel between place of duty and lodging, while on duty to perform official business, and reasonable distances to places for health and welfare purposes, such as eating establishments, places of worship, cleaners, barbershop, grocery store, or other places without the permission of a commander or supervisor.
• Solicit prostitutes or engage in conduct which is unprofessional or unbecoming as a member of the armed forces.

8. EFFECTIVE DATES: This General Order is effective immediately and expires when all DOD personnel have redeployed to their home station/port.

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f the generals and the wussification of the troops. It is time for them to start laying down their arms and getting out as soon as it is legally possible for them to do so. Let the officers and politicians go fight on the front lines where they can insult each other like this.

gold – They aren't deploying to Chicago they are supporting a NATO summit by providing logistical support for a conference... quit trying to make a mountain out of a mole-hill, often times there is military support in conjunction with conferences and when dealing with large summit's etc.... Security and logistics isn't deploying troops... they were doing the same thing when they were down in Columbia and those secret service agents got caught with prostitutes, there were military folks there too.

it isnt a mole hill, this is how they make ever increasing steps to destroy the constitution. Security should NEVER ever be put above the Constitution and Freedom. Too many Americans are fat, soft and lazy and readily hand away their rights. The Patriot Act wasnt about a war it was about suppressing true patriots. We are constantly whipped up in fear of something that doesnt exist.

May 14, 2012 at 6:13 pm |

Allen

@gold, I think you’re referencing the Posse Comitatus laws ( 10 USC secs 371-381) which generally forbids federal armed forces from conducting domestic law enforcement. The general rule is easy, the exceptions aren’t. Exceptions include operation and loaning of equipment, maintaining the loaned equipment, advice on using the equipment … A famous example was the use of surveillance aircraft in the D.C. sniper case: Local law enforcement don’t have many of those.
The article says, “U.S. troops are expected to assist with communications, security, transportation and other functions throughout the high-profile event.” The comms piece raises little alarm. The security piece does. That sounds like a law enforcement function to me. I’m guessing Chicago said they couldn’t afford the police overtime so the fed is picking up the tab. Soldiers know how to close with and destroy the enemy, which may be a little heavy-handed for Chicago.

The "security" portion is likely talking about said loaned equipment. You can't just drop millions of dollars of comms gear in the middle of anywhere and not leave people to keep it secure. Other than that everything else is up to the cops.

Steve – There already is.. People like you don't understand because you never served, but soldiers sailors and airmen have to adhere to a more strict set of laws than you do, it's called UCMJ, the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It basically includes every law you have to abide by as a citizen plus hundreds more... I.E. not being drunk while on duty, disobeying an order.... see we have a much higher standard in the military, It's literally illegal for us to wear the wrong Uniform or have a tattered unserviceable uniform... Not that you would likely get prosecuted for it, but if you refused to change then yeh you'd probably get charged with not following orders etc. Literally, not being very good at your job is illegal in the military, so yes, there is a general rulebook for all servicemen and women to adhere to, it's a much bigger rulebook than you have to follow... they still put out Memos as reminders to people... just like your boss might put out a memo to remember to use a specific form or whatever...

It makes perfect sense to me. Isn't the whole idea of defense to protect your homeland. Terrorists can take the fight to your homeland as they did to the USA in 9/11 so why shouldn't you make plans and establish a command to fight them there if and when they come?

According to my calculus most of the American revolutionaries are British agents including Thomas Jefferson.The American revolutionary war and American civil war are set up and scams ,when do the poor brain dead American scums going to realise that....

The military work all over the country every day, just oftentimes you don't realize it because we aren't geared and armed like the image you see in your mind. I can't even count the amount of summits or exhibitions in which we supported a ranking officer, they are our boss, after all. Many of the communications teams are with the officers at all times of the day.

For the military it is different, your CO can manage your behavior off duty, but for the civil side of government there is no authority anywhere that can tell you how to dress or what you can drink away from work. Don't come to work drunk, dress professionally on the job of course, but what you do on your own time, as long as it is legal, is your own business.

The fact that you think that the military only work in the confinement of a military base is striking. You likely also think we dropped out of high school and are triple-convicted felons. Keep the tin foil hat accusations to people that know something.

I know right? common sense types of orders that are published in every unit just to be able to hold you accountable when you do something stupid...guess they needed something to make it seem like this is out of the ordinary.

Wow..lot's of vile and hateful crap here......RAMBO would not approve. OK General, at the beginning of our next war, how are our soldiers supposed to "blend in" while wearing tuxedo's? I mean, general orders like this are usually reserved for war time conflict locations, Chicago is rough, but general order #1 no alcohol ? Come on, why don't you issue an order to close all the class 6 stores on all Conus and overseas military installations. General order #2: Look the other way while your civilian elected officials and defense contractors engorge themselves with violations of General order #1. I've no doubt the liquor supplies being stockpiled by the hotels for this NATO summit's civilian and defense contractor employes exceed warehouse storage capacity. Someone forgot most of these military professionals are armed to the hilt, are responsible for many lives, in charge of multi million dollar weapons systems, most before they turn 20 years old, and now you have to tell them to act like solders? Haven't they been already? Get a mirror and look in it.

Fact is, this memo would never have been sent out IF members of the military hadn't screwed up in Colombia in the first place.

If you're a former member of the armed forces, as you're trying to portray yourself, then you'd know that when some people screw up in a very public manner, everyone has to play nice until the scrutiny has gone down.

Since this is the first major summit since the Colombia fiasco, the commander is totally within his rights to require service members to behave in a manner exceeding that to which they are accustomed–REGARDLESS of the availability of alcohol, REGARDLESS of what the civilians will be doing, and REGARDLESS of their normal daily responsibilities.

A very good response that clearly states the objective of the GO, plus the fact we are here to DEFEND democracy, not practice it.

May 14, 2012 at 10:32 am |

todd007

Navy guy I work with said: General Order Number 3: DON'T GET CAUGHT!

TinKnight: I don't disagree with your comment but the military didn't screw up.......10 military members involved with article 15's for what happened in Columbia is not the "militarily" as much as it is 10 guys screwing up and getting caught.

May 14, 2012 at 10:37 am |

C Mulders

Todd007:

There is no "I" in "army". When you put on that uniform, you become "the army". When one person wearing a uniform disgraces it, he disgraces not himself, but the uniform – it reflects badly on the army as a whole. That is why.

May 14, 2012 at 11:05 am |

todd007

C Mulders That's my point, It should not require a General Order to reaffirm a military person's responsibilities. This retired Master Sergeant sees the General Order making a statement bigger than CYA: "I don't trust you, here's a reminder of what you are not allowed to do".....If you've a good and experienced NCO force there should be no incidents. A friend sent me a must have t-shirt with the following on the back just below the USMC and USN seal: OFFICERS, making simple sh-t hard since 1775.

May 14, 2012 at 12:23 pm |

Patriot 1775

Where is the similar order for the Secret Service, the State Department, the FBI, BATF, DHS, etc, etc. So much focus on the military when the civilian agencies are "the lead dogs" in the lack of character and poor standards of integrity. That said, the military is probably getting "out in front" to preclude any possible misunderstandings. But the impression is that DoD personnel needs "special" guidance whereas the civilians just get by.

This brigadier general doesn't have authority or command over the Secret Service and other agencies...thus, this memo wouldn't be addressed to them or affect them...fact is, this memo wasn't intended for public distribution (the distribution at the bottom says HQ Norad & USNORTHCOM, not General Release) but someone decided they were smarter than the general and thought that leaking information was a good idea.

The Secret Service and other agencies, more than likely, have received similar marching orders but have been smart enough not to release them to the public.

What folks are missing here is there already IS a policy regarding trafficked persons and prostitution; this just reiterates it. Nearly all prostitution, world-wide, involves exploitation of the poor, kidnapping, fraud, and children. I was very surprised the Colombian escort was of age and able to talk of her own volition to the press, and able to talk about quitting the business. She was, indeed, an escort – one that is in business for herself. Sadly, most of them start out as girls sold into slavery. Their families can't afford to feed them or are dead, they are assaulted and unable to stay in the community because of the stigma, or they just want to leave their circumstances, and here comes a smooth-talker offering entrance into a country of opportunity cleaning homes or in manufacturing. One way or another, they are put in the position of owing the pimp something – money or servitute – and are threatened with bodily harm if they attempt escape. They are taken to strange countries where they know no one and find out they will NOT be working real jobs like they thought. Resistance is met with physical abuse and murder. They do not "perform their jobs" because they want to. They are assaulted on a daily basis, by multiple men. What the US Government doesn't want is to be put in the position of perpetuating organized crime that it's trying to stop. These groups aren't just about prostitution, they're about drugs, money laundering, racketeering, smuggling, weapons dealing, and some form of domestic or international terrorism. Far too many, including troops, assume that a girl goes into this kind of work by choice and gets to keep the money. Very, very, very few do and most of them are under age slaves.

Well done, Pointmissed (apt, that!) I honestly don't believe these sorts of orders are all that unusual. The public just doesn't normally see them. I'm pretty sure that any time a military service member is chosen for special security duties such as events like this, similar 'marching orders' are issued. In addition, these types of rules are often in place for ALL service personnel which is why you find Officer's Clubs and the like on bases. To provide a protected (out of view of the public) place where their military members can relax, enjoy a drink or three and any idiotic or improper behavior can be monitored and resolved quickly and quietly instead of in full view of God, The Universe and everyone, which would require severe military discipline. If a soldier does something really stupid while drunk on base, he can be disciplined and counseled (and probably still go on his record) but he will be given the opportunity to redeem himself. If in public, then that's a lot tougher to do.

Alright, all you guys, you have seen what the General has said and the reasons also, so let us follow these orders for the safety of all. Just like it was in WW1, we doughboys followed the orders of the Generals and we did quite well. Enjoy your beloved freedom now and protect it forever.

"it is incumbent on all of you to perform your duties to the best of your ability and to represent your country and service in the best possible manner." – I belive this can still be accomplished after a night of drinking, what a joke!

Devil Dog – Semper Fi, but when I was a hard charging Marine NCO, I knew the best way to make sure my Marines didn't act stupid the night before or be hung over the next day was to notice a 6 mile run or obstacle course session for the following morning – not to submit a memo or issue some order depriving everyone from having one or two cold ones after hours. Similarly, every commander up my chain of command knew that he could count on me and those like me to make sure they were not embarrassed and the mission was accomplished. That is what I call leadership; unfortunately, the military has replaced leadership with management (and micromanagement). Sad.

Blame the Brigadier General all you want, but members of Southern Command messed things up for everyone in Colombia...so, of course at the next major summit, the military is going to have everyone on tight leashes.

You can say that you and your team could handle your alcohol all night long and be ready to rock the next day, and that's probably true for most service members...but these particular individuals screwed up and were caught.

This is the price to be paid...once a major event or two has gone by without any scandals, the leash will be loosened again.

May 14, 2012 at 10:14 am |

todd007

10-4

"OFFICERS, Making simple sh-t hard since 1775"

May 14, 2012 at 12:27 pm |

PostSquid

Yup.. It's funny..When I made port visits, I had the BEST time with our entire crew and officers, we partied hard, and the next day we all new our jobs perfectly and performed our duties without error. THAT is what being a team is about, taking care of your "brothers and sisters", having a commander that knows his people, and knows his role while being professional enough to handle exceptions "in-house". This General sounds like he was buzzed when he wrote his memo.

The reason why this GEN is passing out this WRITTEN order is so that when, not if, it happens again they can just go ahead and UCMJ whoever does anything wrong and kick them out without much press or anything

Actually they can. At his rank he hasn't been a real soldier for at least 10 years, probably 15, and doesn't really remember what it's like to be a real soldier. So he issues stupid orders like this that his troops will just break anyway. While he sits in his office furiously masturbating to his own sense of importance the grunts are far away from him doing the real work. And they're probably buying hookers and pulling out secret bottles of liquor. Goes on all the time. It's only the dumb troops that get caught by making it obvious.

Why did a notification have to be posted and made public to remind military personel to act the way they should act everyday? Is the Gen. justifying his position? Their conduct should be exemplary all the time. And for the most part it is.
This article was not necessary.

Exactly no girls in the room but it's okay to fool around with another man, sick, but the Officer get to do as they please nobody checks on them they only have roving patrols in Office quarters but in the enlisted ranks they stake out the barracks and rooms been there don that and got caught.

A military which exercises good order and discipline is going to be a more effective fighting force then a disorganized rabble.

May 14, 2012 at 9:06 am |

bobbie

way I look at it David if your in the country and you talk like this, get out. No one is holding you hear, no one is asking you to stay. Get Out. Anyone that is from another country and is living here saying crap about the US, then leave go back to where you came from. Oh I forgot there is a reason your here. It's because you couldn't make it in your own country so you decided to come here and when you find out stuff isn't as easy here as you thought you start to blame the US because of your faults. If you don't like it GO BACK HOME.

May 14, 2012 at 9:32 am |

Ramon Cortes

FUCK ALL YALL HATING AS FOES THAT THINK OWER COUNTRY IS A JOKE!!! THATS WHY WE BEN KILLING YALL FOES LIKE DOGS AND TAKEING OVER YOUR COUNTRY DITCH AS FOES

"YOU BETTER BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR!! WE'RE IN OUR OWN COUNTRY NOW AND WE CAN'T CALL OURSELVES AUTHORITARIAN IMPERIALISTS IF WE DON'T HAVE ORDER WITHIN OUR OWN BORDERS! SAVE THE PISSING ON BODIES FOR LATER. ATTACK PEACEFUL PROTESTERS AND BLAME IT ON UNDERCOVER COPS TRYING TO START STEAMKETTLING. IF DESTRUCTIVE ANARCHISTS SHOW UP, TREAT THEM LIKE PROTESTERS IN EGYPT OR SYRIA. THEY'RE OUT OF ORDER AND OPPRESSION DOESN'T EXIST IN 'MURIKA OR THE WESTERN NATIONS FOR THAT MATTER."

bring back the draft. it's clear we have a bunch of losers in the military who for the most part joined because they have no skills to compete in the real world. we spend more on military than the top 150 countries in the world COMBINED and still can't beat a bunch of tribal clowns in the middle east. great work.

Stop comparing today's military men with WW2 military men. Different people. Typical of you to ride along on someone elses ride. You can't claim their victories or acheivements. Today all that can be claimed is stup idity. A real man and a real hero doesn't keep whining. "look at me, look at me, im a soldier, love me". A man that keep bragging or thinking their entitled to something or their better than others is one of the worst kind of man.

May 14, 2012 at 10:06 am |

nh guy

hey dave, maybe you should go back to school and actually listen to your teachers – you write like an idiot and think like a two-year-old. grow up.

May 14, 2012 at 10:33 am |

honest john

I don't know what you are talking about here. The USAF only gives the top 5-10% of officer applicants a shot. I would wager that 90% of military officers would outperform 90% of the civilians out there in most areas of life.

And for a lot less money. But John........people like NH don't understand that or much of anything else. It's people like him that make me say "Why did I bother?"

May 14, 2012 at 9:11 am |

mcalleyboy

There's guys just like you in the Military they don't have a drivers license, never worked a job in their lives other than graduating high school, and living with mom because dad left many years ago, yes it is true and the only fix is to make sure the right people are accepted into the military it's a very needed change.

"I always find it ironic that the sheep never even know the dog is there, they think the wolves are just to scared to come near the flock." -SFC Day
Awesome quote. I need it on a T-shirt

Also, my daughter will be on duty at the Summit serving, protecting, representing the US and making us proud because that's the kind of woman she is! Semper Paratus!

May 14, 2012 at 1:17 pm |

yepppp

Nothing like good ol' STEREOTYPES to project what a Soldier is these days. How about you start considering that there are millions that put on the uniform and a few bad apples will always exist in any population group.

Well if obama will be attending then you might as well brodcast it LIVE on the web. The soldiers know how to conduct themselves do not treat or talk to them as if they are children. This that happened in columbia was a set up to DRaw me from you. You see I like the genarals, I love the enlisted, I have been their done that, take this uniform that you have for me and BURN! it don't want it don't need it ever, I dress how I dress, you generals are use to civilian style leadership.

Tina – So did you have a decent divorce attorney? You should have been eligible for some compensation...epecially if you were married for 10 years or longer.

My ex-wife cheated on me and since we were married for longer than 10 years, she applied (and got) automatic monthly garnishment of no less than 28% of my retirement. Percentages depend on the state (as well as judge–I happened to have a female judge).

The jig's up huh? You uncovered the master plan to have the troops providing logistical support to a conference in Chicago go out and harm whatever protestors happen to show up (Occupy NATO?). And it all could have been prevented by a simple line in this one single memo.

Reading this article reminds me of why I resigned my commission after 16 years of combined enlisted and commissioned service. At the time everyone was all up in arms because they could not figure out why officer retention was so bad it was threatening mission capability – I thought the answer was simple and this memo reflects it: a complete substitution of a CYA culture in place of real leadership. I really feel for anyone serving these days. Sad.

Except for the strict alcohol ban, isn't the rest just common sense, and to be expected at a high-profile event. After all, these are security people/troops, not just service members on base. They should be expected to be fit and ready for duty at any moment, and alcohol, even off-duty, may impair that. It's not a long-term posting. They can be grownups.

The order is a statement on the leadership of this unit. If the troops are treated as children they will act like children. If the leaders have trained the troops properly they already have the respect of the troops and have no need for such memos or directives. The officer corps that wrote this should resign in disgrace....!

"... U.S. Southern Command finalizes its probe into the conduct of 12 troops assigned to security for a recent presidential trip to Colombia." That's rich. My ex-husband was stationed at South Com and when I called his commanding officer to inform him of an affair my husband was having with a civilian employee working at Key West the commander just told my husband to "handle your business at home." He did...he divorced me. The military isn't concerned with whether or not a someone has commited an improper act only that they don't get caught. And my ex was in military intelligence...some intelligence he had.

Tina told her husband’s commander that her husband was violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice, by committing adultery. As the commander he was obligated to conduct an investigation, assuming there was credible evidence to support the claim. By being in intelligence Tina’s husband necessarily had a fairly high level security clearance, which means any improper behavior should result in losing that clearance.

May 14, 2012 at 5:38 am |

Sashimi-X

It's not his CO's job to manage his personal life. Stop crying and move on.

Im sorry, Tina. Divorces are painful. But like the others said, you should move on. It's all you have left to do now. What's past is past, but it doesn't mean you can't move forward. Let it go. Peace.
A.

Love how this woman thinks that only men do this and military should step in, my ex cheated on me with a co-worker and was showing up at my office all happy as if she did nothing wrong.

As long as I do my job, I could care any less as long as whatever I do doesn't affect my job. Besides, karma bit her butt when she wanted to get back with me only to realize that she got preggo by the other clown.

Unfortunately, Tina, you're half-right, half-wrong. Having been a commander, I can tell you that these personal relationship matters are extremely difficult to prosecute. I had two Soldiers who worked for me, they had an affair, we all knew it but couldn't prove it. She got pregnant, had the baby and put his name on the birth certificate. Figuring that was enough to prove the affair, I went to the lawyers to attempt to prosecute the two of them, I was told that without signed sworn statements from the two of them admitting to the affair or incontrovertible (read: photos or videos of them having sex), there wasn't enough to prosecute on. So, is your husband's CO required to do an investigation, yes, do these investigations happen every day of the week and twice on Sunday in the military, yes, do they lead to prosecutions, extremely rarely. Even when the evidence seems to be completely airtight, bringing someone into court and taking any kind of administrative actions against them is extremely difficult. And, Growup, you're wrong, Tina's husband is/was subject to UCMJ, if he's cheating on her, its against the rules and is prosecutable, the problem just becomes getting enough evidence to get the lawyers to bring it to court.

The military is mocked by the civilian world for still having adultery as a criminal offense. I cannot say if the incidence of extramarital s e x is higher in the armed forces than the civilian world, but prosecuting adultery in USA 2012 is like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500. Your legal advice was correct: Without photographic evidence or an admission by both parties you're not getting close to the "beyond a reasonable doubt" ballpark.

And the Former Spouse Protection Act is a remnant of the 1950s that is way overdue for repeal. Soldier deploys twelve months getting shot at by Taliban, his wife is porking Jodie all the while, she drops papers the week before he gets back, and not only is he paying child support for the new guy to raise his kids, he has to reward her a percent of his retirement for her treachery!

May 14, 2012 at 5:11 pm |

11BGI

Tina, you're a perfect example of why military men should not get married to vapid losers like yourself. You tried to involve his chain of command in a personal matter, basically tried to ruin a career that he'd spent the best ten years of his life in, and now you're whining that he kicked you to the curb like you deserved? Grow up. He never should have bothered with you in the first place, you sound like an awful backstabbing women to me. I'm glad your husband dealt with you appropriately.

And WHY, exactly, did you call his CO? Just to "tell on him"? People DO get in a lot of trouble for adultery in the military, and while it is odd his CO did nothing, perhaps it is because the Chain of Command knew you were such a backstabbing, vindictive khunt that they figured it best for your husband to leave your wide asss behind.

And I'll bet you won't partake in The Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act? USFSPA has screwed more military members that any group of whores or prostitutes. The law was made by our most experienced whores and prostitutes, U.S. Congress.

I caught my (now ex) wife screwing a "buddy" when I was active duty Air Force but i didn't run to the Commander about it. I punched the guy in the face. A few years later, after we were divorced, I missed 1 child support payment and SHE IMMEDIATELY went to MY Commander about it. Lesson: American women are the most vindictive, spiteful harpies on the planet.

you were dumb enough to get married and short of a pre-nup you walked right into the alimony/child support trap.....she trapped you just like the stupid tool you are and now its time for her to regain her freedom all the while being financially supported by YOU and your alimony/child support money......your ride is over and hers has just begun for the rest of her easy life or until she remarries--which is very unlikely.

May 14, 2012 at 6:37 pm |

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